Michigan

Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum Curator Don Holloway, right, and Registrar Jamie Draper, work on a display case in the "Growing up Grand," centennial exhibit on Tuesday, April 30 at the Ford museum. The exhibit opens to the public May 7 and will run for about a year.
(Emily Zoladz | Mlive.com)

At
the museum's dedication in Grand Rapids in 1981, President Ford made his
intentions clear.

"This
is not a monument to any one man or to any one presidency," he said. "Rather,
it is a classroom of American democracy. A place where school kids as well as
scholars will enjoy privileged access to the innermost working of their
government."

The
Fords wanted the institution to be a living classroom for students of all ages,
and living institutions must change and grow.

"They
saw this as a place where future generations could come and learn about their
triumphs and their challenges," said Steve Ford, chairman of the Gerald R. Ford
Presidential Foundation and one of President Ford's four children.

Last
fall, the Ford Presidential Foundation launched a $15 million capital campaign
to build a 10,000-square-foot addition to the Ford Museum in Grand Rapids to
serve as a Student Learning Center, to revamp the museum's exhibits, and to
digitize historical documents in its collection at the Ford Library in Ann
Arbor.

The
Campaign for the Legacy of Gerald R. Ford began with $10 million already
secured from trustees and supporters of the Ford Museum, located in Grand
Rapids, and the Ford Library in Ann Arbor, together one of the 13 presidential
libraries administered by the National Archives and Records Administration,
with additional support from the Ford Foundation.

Construction
is expected to begin next year, but the redesign of the museum's exhibits is
underway.

The
Ford Museum, dedicated in 1981 and expanded in 1997, will be refurbished once
again with updated, interactive displays including a small film theater-in-the-round
at the entrance to the exhibits.

"That'll
help bring the museum to life with technological advancements that weren't
available 16 years ago," Calvaruso said.

The
two-story Learning Center will make the museum a living classroom.

"The
addition of an on-site student learning center will allow teachers to bring
full classrooms into the museum to study history, civics and see first-hand the
core values mom and dad shared throughout their life," said Steve Ford.

Digitizing
the 25 million documents in the Ford Library collection will make them
available to the world.

Fundraising
today has surpassed $10 million as the public appeal gets underway to complete
the $15 million campaign.

Individuals
or businesses interested in donating to the Campaign for the Legacy of Gerald
R. Ford can call 616-254-0396 or by going to the Ford Presidential Foundation's
website at www.geraldrfordfoundation.org

"President
Ford has given us the great gift of his legacy," said Hank Meijer, CEO of
Meijer, Inc., and vice chairman of the Gerald. R. Ford Foundation, in November.
"And it's up to us to preserve it and cherish it."

President
Ford died in December 2006. First Lady Betty Ford passed away in July 2011.
Both are interred on the grounds of the museum, adjacent to Ah-Nab-Awen Park
and the Grand River.

Since
the death of Betty Ford, the Ford Family has donated heirlooms, personal
possessions and private papers to the institution.

"Dad
had notes and cards from his entire career in Congress, and they gifted all
their private letters and papers to the museum," he said.

The
auction house Sotheby's estimated the value of the private correspondence of
both President Ford and First Lady Betty Ford at $1.8 million. But his parents
had other plans for their papers, which include item such as notes and cards
from the former Congressman Jack Kennedy.

When
Gerald R. Ford was elected to Congress in 1948, he found himself assigned to an
office next to Kennedy, sent to Washington, D.C., just two years earlier.

Often
the two, a Republican from Michigan and a Democrat from Massachusetts, but both
veterans of the U.S. Navy during World War II, would make the long walk
together to the House to cast votes.